بن ريدة
Raydah Coffee Beans are an ancient highland variety grown in the fog-covered mountains of Asir. Their cherries ripen from green to bright red, producing two pale greenish-gray beans with herbal, nutty, and faintly fruity notes. The beans are traditionally roasted lightly and boiled without spices to prepare pure Saudi coffee.
Cultivation is fully manual. Farmers handpick only the ripe red cherries throughout a long harvest season beginning in October. A single branch can hold up to sixteen nodes, each producing ten or more cherries—an exceptional yield unique to Raydah. After harvest, the cherries are shade-dried for nearly a month before hulling.
Coffee has deep cultural roots in the region. Women historically tended the terraces, irrigated the trees, and assisted in harvest while men traveled for supplies. Folk songs and poems praise the flavor and importance of Raydah coffee, reflecting its long-standing role in social gatherings.
Today, Raydah coffee faces threats including reduced rainfall, declining fog, monkey raids, and the diminishing number of young farmers. Despite this, it remains a treasured symbol of Asir’s agricultural history.
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